Big Three
“Where ARE you!?” texted my best friend when, for whatever reason, he noticed my shared location placed me dead center in the middle of nowhere. It was the night before Esme’s third birthday and nine of us gathered in the hotel lobby to celebrate. This is a story about her birthday weekend.
We’d stumbled upon Schulenberg on our way home from a work trip to San Antonio last December. The quiet town almost perfectly divides the stretch of I-10 between our house and San Antonio and is home to Tilley’s— the only coffee shop for a half hour either direction. After changing diapers, relieving ourselves, and grabbing coffee, we wandered over to the Chamber of Commerce to learn about the sleepy town. Hanging amongst other local merch was an advertisement for the “10th Annual Schulenberg Sausagefest.” Cue tail wag and perked ears.
We learned the festival falls on the first weekend of April: Esme’s third birthday. Ruby and I instantly agree that it’s the perfect way to celebrate because sausage is one of Es’s favorite foods. So we find ourselves back in this same small town four months later with Rami, our moms, our neighbors, and our three year old who has been slowly falling out of love with sausage. Such is life. She’s excited to be here surrounded by all of her favorite people.
Rami & Abu, 2025.
‘Happy Birthday to you…"‘, 2025.
We decided to divide and conquer the drive. Rami and the grandmas in one car, Esme’s bestie and her mom join Ruby and Es in our Prius, and the dads trail way behind. Night one is capped with Domino’s pizza and Walmart cookie cake in the lobby of the Hampton Inn. We must be raising a little American.
The next day, the festival features two local high school wind ensembles, professional polka bands, and DJs throughout the day. There are local vendors, small businesses, and community sponsors (Perdue Chickens, Dairy Queen, and Whataburger with the greatest footprint). And of course, the showstopper, the sausage competition: about a dozen different casers and smokers serving their finest sausage in hopes of winning the tastebuds of the town.
Esme and her best friend, Eleanor, break out in dance throughout the day (Texas Polka sounds a whole lot like Tejano music). We all eat our share of sausage, pulled pork, and brisket. Two out of three kids nap, the adults window shop, I drink two large cold brews, and eventually, we make our way back to the hotel for a swim.
The swim wears everyone out and our friends depart soon after. Relatively speaking, this was a huge success. Traveling with friends and family is a tall order. Taking small children to a food festival is a tall order. Birthdays can be some of the tallest orders, second only to holidays. Yet, we had a wonderful weekend with lots of new memories, very little fuss, and a happy birthday girl.
Big 3, 2025.